The Five Dragons Watch Over Us
by MightierThanTheSword16
Summary: An incident at New Domino Duel Academy has caused Akiza to be transferred to Lillian Girl's Duel Academy. As Akiza tries to adjust to the roses and soeurs, Yusei uncovers a secret at the heart of his friend's new school. Will the two of them be able to stop this while navigating a new friend's love story, or will all of them be seeing the light?
1. Chapter 1: Uprooted Rose

New Domino City, an urban metropolis where speed rules all. The worldwide phenomenon known as Duel Monsters has evolved, with duels being played on high speed vehicles known as duel runners. But even among the turbo charged highways, crime ridden slums, and lawless desert towns, sophistication can still be found. Located on the outskirts of New Domino, Lillian Girl's Duel Academy has dedicated itself to teaching young ladies the ins and outs of dueling with poise and grace. Maria's light shines brightly on these young girls immaculate uniforms. It is in this city of speed and sophistication, that our story begins.

* * *

 _Yusei's Garage:_

I was a warm Friday afternoon. While many would spend this day outside enjoying the nice weather, one young man chose to spend his day locked in his garage, fiddling with his duel runner. The aforementioned mechanic was a young man in his late teens. He had black spiky hair with golden streaks. His face was highlighted by his royal blue eyes and a jagged yellow mark under his left eye. His name was Yusei Fudo, a professional level turbo duelist hailing from the uber-slum of New Domino City, the Satellite Sector. Despite his humble background, Yusei was able to prove himself as an adept mechanic and exceptional duelist in the streets and stadiums of New Domino. Both skills would be put to the test in an upcoming duel tournament known as the World Racing Grand Prix (WRGP for short). Preparing for the tournament occupied almost all of his free time, especially since a visit to a dusty desert town put him behind schedule. Thankfully he didn't have to do this alone. Another young man with short blue hair named Bruno worked as his assistant mechanic. The two worked feverishly on a new duel runner design that they could use for the tournament, until a musical chime ringed from across the room. "Hey Bruno, can you get that," Yusei asked his assistant. Bruno complied and picked up Yusei's phone.

"Yusei's garage, Bruno speaking." Bruno said. A short moment passed before the blue haired mechanic brought the phone over to it's owner. "It's Akiza, she wanted to talk to you. Said it was important." Yusei stood up and took the phone.

"Hey Akiza," He said to his female friend, "Bruno said you have something important to tell me."

"Yes I do," Akiza's voice stated over the phone, "But not over the phone. This is something I need to tell you face-to-face."

"Aren't you still in school?" Yusei questioned.

"The final bell rang already. Just meet me at the school's front gate." Akiza then hung up suddenly. Yusei began to worry about what his friend wanted to talk about. The way she rushed her way through that phone call made him think that something was wrong. Yusei rarely ever panicked, but this time he was concerned. The turbo duelist grabbed his blue jacket, hopped on his red-framed duel runner, and drove out of his garage. The turbo duelist sped his way through the highways of New Domino and eventually arrived at the local Duel Academy. It was a large school building surrounded by a turbo dueling track. He parked his runner just outside the front gate with several students gawking at him. Yusei pretended not to notice as he looked around for Akiza. Just beyond the gate, standing under a cherry blossom tree, stood the girl he was searching for. Akiza Izinski was a beautiful woman in her late teens. She had flowing burgundy hair and enticing brown eyes, all of which matched nicely with the dark red coat of her school uniform. Needless to say, she stood out in a crowd.

"Akiza!" Yusei called out.

"Yusei, over here!" Akiza responded.

"So what was so important that you couldn't just tell me over the phone?" Yusei asked.

"Walk with me," Akiza made her way behind the tree and Yusei followed. The two walked through the sunlit grove of trees. The multicolored leaves made it clear that fall was in full swing. "It's a long story," Akiza said after a long pause, "But I suppose I should start with this; I'm leaving Duel Academy."

"Say what?" a stunned Yusei asked. Leaving New Domino Duel Academy? This was serious. Yusei didn't know much about his redheaded friend's school life, but he did know that she loved it here. It was a place for her to devote time to her love for Duel Monsters, and it was even the school of choice for two good friends of both her and Yusei, twins named Leo and Luna. The Academy was where she felt like she belonged. This didn't make sense. Yusei needed to get to the bottom of this. "Why would you leave Duel Academy? I thought you liked it here?"

"I do. You honestly think I'd do this willingly?" Akiza answered, "My parents are forcing me to do this…" The redheaded student then hung her head.

"Why?" the turbo duelist put his hand on her shoulder, "Akiza talk to me."

"It all happened yesterday…" Akiza trailed off, and so began today's flashback.

* * *

 _New Domino Duel Academy (Turbo Duel Track)... One Day Earlier:_

"Black Rose Dragon, direct attack!" Akiza yelled. She and some male student (the name's not important) were in the middle of a turbo duel on the school's track. Akiza herself was riding her dark red duel runner and wearing her matching red and black riding suit. Both duelists had only 1100 life points left, but Akiza was the only one with a monster on the field. The aforementioned monster was a large black dragon with wings that looked like they were adorned with large red rose petals. Black Rose Dragon then charged at it's master's opponent and chomped away the last of his life points. Both duel runners slowed to a stop and the defeated boy congratulated Akiza on her victory.

"Once again the Black Rose Queen proves her skill," the defeated student said.

"Again with that nickname," Akiza replied, "Who even started calling me that anyway?"

"Not sure, but the name stuck. I'll see you in class." With that the defeated duelist drove off. The so called "Black Rose Queen" made her way off of the track and over to the girl's locker room, wanting to change out of her sweaty riding suit. Just outside the door, A tall man in a suit and glasses with black hair waited for her. His smiling expression greatly disturbed the redheaded duelist. The look in his eye gave Akiza the impression of a jungle cat waiting to pounce on its prey. She tried to ignore him and walk through the door, but he blocked the doorway with his outstretched arm.

"Congratulations on your duel Akiza," the man stated in a low voice, "I expect nothing less from New Domino's Black Rose Queen." the redhead was getting more unsettled by the minute.

"Thank you Mr. Shido," she said while playing it cool, "Now if you don't mind, I need to take a shower before my next class."

"Well then I won't stall you any further," Mr. Shido said while removing his arm. As Akiza made her way into the locker room and then to the showers, her uneasiness didn't subside. Mr. Shido was a relatively new teacher at the Academy, and one that the students were already spreading some pretty disturbing rumors about. Most of the gossip centered around his supposed attraction to the female students. Akiza never really believed anything on the rumor mill, but thanks to many encounters with the black haired teacher, she realized that the rumors may have some truth to them. After ten minutes of showering (about half of which was spent just washing her hair), The redhead made her way over to her locker and screamed. Not only was her riding outfit gone, but so was her school uniform and duel disk. The color drained from her face as she frantically searched the room for any sign of her missing clothes. She eventually found her duel disk by the door. She strapped it on and peeked outside. It was then that someone grabbed her hair and pulled her out of the locker room. Akiza suddenly found herself surrounded by three male students, one held firmly onto her hair while the others taunted her by waving around her riding suit and uniform. The redhead gripped the towel she hastily wrapped herself with.

"Come on Akiza," the bully that held her hair said, "Why are you being so modest? Show us the goods and we give you back your clothes." The tree of the laughed maniacally, obviously thinking that they were geniuses. Their victim primed herself to punch out all three of them.

"Hold it you three!" a random voice called out. All four students turned to see Mr. Shido approaching them. The three male students backed off. Mr. Shido made his way behind Akiza and stared down the three bullies. "I can't believe the three of you," the spectacled teacher told them, "Sneaking into the girl's locker room and stealing her clothes, do you even realize how much trouble you're in?" All three of them shrank in fear. The teacher then spun Akiza around so he could talk to her face-to-face. He wore that same predatory smile he had earlier. "Are you alright Akiza? I'm terribly sorry this happened to you." he continued in a low purr. He moved his left hand along the side of Akiza's face, and she didn't even want to think about where the other hand was going. The redheaded duelist acted instinctively.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled while slapping his hands away. His creepy smile drained away. In it's place was an expression of pure anger.

"I'm trying to help you, you bitch!" Shido said as he slapped her across the face. Akiza staggered. For a moment she stood there, stunned. Every muscle in her body tensed up and her mind started to go blank. She didn't exactly know what she was doing, but she was pissed and someone was going to pay. She reached down for her duel disk and placed Black Rose Dragon in one of the monster zones. Suddenly Akiza's flowery dragon materialized behind her. She then began to float and an unknown force blasted her harassers back several feet. A terrifyingly murderous glare was fixed on the victim's face. Black Rose Dragon soon went berserk, absolutely wrecking house in it's pursuit of those who have wronged its master.

* * *

 _New Domino Duel Academy (Courtyard)... Present:_

"Oh my God," a shocked Yusei said. The two of them were seated on a bench in the Academy courtyard. Needless to say that Akiza's story left Yusei reeling.

"Thankfully the twins came by and snapped me out of it," Akiza continued, "And thankfully my father was able to pull some strings so that they wouldn't expel me."

"I thought you finally got control over your powers," Yusei said.

"I do… most of the time. I've noticed though, that whenever I get extremely angry, I just lose control. It's like I become the Black Rose Witch all over again." Akiza gripped her right forearm. Yusei knew what she was gripping. Akiza was a psychic duelist who's powers came from a mark on her arm. This mark branded her as a signer, a duelist who's been chosen and marked by an entity known as the Crimson Dragon. Those who bear the Crimson Dragon's mark are destined to save the world. Yusei and three other mutual friends of theirs were signers too.

"To be honest I don't blame you," reassured Yusei, "You were just defending yourself. You were completely in the right." He didn't know why, but the thought of those guys sexually assaulting her caused the anger inside him to boil over.

"I know," Akiza stated while hanging her head, "But my parents aren't as understanding as you Yusei. They said that I needed to be removed from the factors that caused this incident to prevent something similar happening. So they enrolled me in some all-girls duel academy on the outskirts of the city called Lillian Duel Academy."

"Let me guess, you don't want to go," Yusei theorized.

"I told them that I didn't need to be taken out of school, but they wouldn't listen. And here I thought that they weren't afraid of my powers anymore." Akiza clenched her fists.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you Akiza… I wish that there was something that I could do." The male signer hung his head in disappointment. He couldn't help but feel useless. Matters involving Akiza always seemed to wreak havoc on his emotions, even if he never did show it.

"There is one thing you can do." the redheaded student stood up and pulled her duel disk out of her bag. "Today is my last day at this school. After I leave today, I'm never coming back. Yusei, I want my last duel as a student of New Domino Duel Academy, to be against you." Akiza's duel disk then activated, and she readied herself to draw her hand. Luckily Yusei brought his own duel disk with him to this meeting. The black haired turbo duelist activated his own disk, determined to give his friend the duel she was seeking. Both shot each other a look of fierce determination.

"Let's duel!" they both called out. Each disk then displayed the 4000 life points they'd start with.

"I'll go first," Akiza announced as she drew her hand. "And I think I'll summon Phoenixian Seed in attack mode." A red leafed plant sapling with a giant eyeball on the stem appeared on Akiza's side of the field. "But that's not all. Thanks to Phoenixian Seed's ability, I can send it to the graveyard in order to summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis from my hand in attack mode." The sapling then began to grow into a larger, vaguely phoenix-shaped plant. "I'll set one card facedown and end my turn." A larger facedown version of a Duel Monsters card appeared behind Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis. In her first turn Akiza was able to summon a monster with 2200 ATK. Yusei could tell that she meant business.

"My turn, I draw!" Yusei announced, "I'll start by sending one monster card from my hand to the graveyard to special summon the tuner monster Quickdraw Synchron." A small robot cowboy wearing a tattered red cape and a hat that covered one eye arrived on Yusei's field. "Next I summon Unicycular in attack mode." A red robot balancing on one wheel materialized next to Quickdraw Synchron. "Now I tune my Quickdraw Synchron with Unicycular in order to synchro summon Drill Warrior." Yusei's two monsters jumped up into the air. Quickdraw Synchron then transformed into five green circles that Unicycular flew into. A giant beam of light then erupted from the circles. "Let's rev it up!" Yusei yelled as a large orange armored warrior with a giant drill where its right hand should be appeared on his side of the field. "Now thanks to Drill Warrior's special ability, I can halve its ATK and give it the ability to attack you directly." Yusei's warrior's ATK dropped from 2400 to 1200. It primed itself for an attack.

"I expected you'd do something like that Yusei," Akiza interjected, "Which is why I activate the trap card, Rose Curse!" The card behind Akiza's monster flipped up. "This card activates whenever a monster you control changes its ATK. Now I can inflict damage to you equal to the difference between its original ATK and its new ATK. And if my math is correct, that's 1200 points subtracted from your life points." A stream of rose petals shot out from the trap card hitting Yusei in the chest. He looked down at his duel disk and saw that his life points dropped down to 2800.

"Well played Akiza, but Drill Warrior can still attack." Yusei's drill handed monster charged at Akiza, driving it's drill into its master's opponent, and reducing her life points to 2800. "I'll set a card facedown. Your move." A facedown card appeared behind Drill Warrior, whose ATK rose back up to 2400. Akiza drew her next card.

"I'll have Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis attack Drill Warrior." she said. The phoenix plant then charged at Yusei's warrior who countered by drilling it into oblivion. Akiza's life points then dropped to 2600. "And now the effect of Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis activates. Since it was destroyed, you take 800 points of damage." A fiery version of Akiza's phoenix plant flew at Yusei, reducing his life points to 2000. "I then set one monster facedown in defense mode" A sideways facedown card appeared on Akiza's field. "Now before I end my turn, I'll banish one plant-type monster from my graveyard and summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis back in defense mode." The phoenix plant rose from the ashes of defeat, except this time coated in monochrome blue. It was Yusei's turn now, he drew his next card.

"I summon Junk Synchron!" he declared. A small and chubby warrior in orange armor appeared. "Now thanks to his special ability, I can summon one level 2 or lower monster from my graveyard, and I choose Unicycular." The one-wheeled robot returned to Yusei's field wearing the defense mode veil of monochrome blue. "Now I tune Junk Synchron with Unicycular." Junk Synchron morphed into three green rings that Unicycular flew through. Another blinding column of light passed through the rings. "Let's rev it up! I synchro summon Armory Arm!" A black mechanical arm with red claw-like fingers materialized beside Yusei. "And now Armory Arm's effect activates. I can target one monster on my field and equip it with Armory Arm." The robot arm found its way to Drill Warrior. The warrior then stuck it's left hand inside the arm, allowing the two to combine their power and boosting Drill Warrior's ATK by 1000 points in the process. "Now I activate the trap card Synchro Blast," Yusei's trap card flipped up. "With this in play, anytime a synchro monster I control declares an attack, you get hit with 500 points of damage. Now it's time for Drill Warrior to attack Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis!" Yusei's warrior then jumped into the air and brought its drill and Armory Arm down upon the phoenix plant, destroying it completely. The monster's fiery spirit then blasted itself at Yusei again. His life points dropped to 1200. Akiza want off the hook either. A small bust of energy reduced her life points to 2100. "Now Army Arm's second ability activates, when the equipped monster destroys a monster by battle, you take damage equal to your lost monster's ATK" Armory Arm then shot itself off of Drill Warrior's arm and punched Akiza, taking her life points down to zero. The duel was over and Yusei had won. The turbo duelist walked over to his defeated opponent as all of the monsters faded away.

"And I was expecting to turn around my losing streak against you," she joked. The two chuckled. "Thank you Yusei, I needed this." The two made their way from the courtyard to the main entrance.

"So are you going to be ok?" Yusei asked as they walked out of the front gate.

"I think so," replied Akiza, a tear welling up in the corner of her eye.

"You know, if you ever need to talk I'll always listen," Yusei told her as she approached her duel runner, "And It's not like this'll be the last time we see each other."

"I know Yusei. It's just… I'm just going to miss this place." Her eyes then leaked tears. Soft sobs wrestled their way out of the redhead's mouth. Yusei walked over to his friend and held his arms out. Akiza knew what he was offering and she fully embraced him, crying into his shoulder. Yusei completed the hug by wrapping his arms around her. He wasn't sure what the future would hold for his signer friend, but he did know that he wanted to make her feel better. He looked up to the sky, resolving to guide her through this troubling transition.

* * *

 _Lillian Girl's Duel Academy (Front Gate)… Several Days Later:_

The day began like any other at Lillian Girl's Duel Academy. Fant sunlight reflected off of the autumn leaves and onto the perfectly tidy uniforms of the students. As the name implied (or rather explicitly stated), the crowd of students filing into the main building were all female. The school board hoped that this lack of any Y chromosomes would lead to the young ladies to act more lady-like. What was even more surprising, is that it appeared to be working. The halls of Lillian were peaceful pretty much 24/7, completely devoid of trouble or excitement. Of course this lifestyle was embraced by a great many girls, one of which was a student by the name of Yumi Fukuzawa. Yumi was a second-year student at the duel academy. Her hair was almost always tied into pigtails with red ribbons. It's true that she wasn't' the greatest duelist in her class, but she didn't mind, and neither did anyone else really. Lillian wasn't exactly a school that pushed its students to break their limits when it comes to dueling. Yumi walked slowly through the front gates of the school and soon came up to the school's statue of the Virgin Mary (or Maria as she was known here). There is an unspoken rule that all students must pray at this statue before they arrive in class every day. Yumi just about finished this morning ritual when a voice caught her attention.

"One moment," the voice called out. Yumi turned around to see the voice's origin. What she beheld through the softly falling leaves was a beautiful young woman who appeared to be slightly older than her. She had long, flowing hair that was as black as night, and her eyes were an almost piercing blue. The black haired student slowly approached Yumi, who was a bit in awe that someone that breathtaking would just come up and talk to her.

"Um, were you addressing me?" Yumi stammered.

"Yes, I was the one who spoke and I was addressing you," the older student stated clearly, "There is no mistake. Hold this." The black haired woman held out her bag and Yumi took it without hesitation. The other student then moved her hands to Yumi's sailor scarf.

"Your scarf is crooked," she said, "You should always keep your appearance neat. Maria is watching you." The blue eyed woman then moved her hands down to the knot and tighten it slightly. The entire time this was happening, Yumi just stood there mesmerized by the stranger's immaculate beauty. "Good day." The stranger then took her bag back and walked off towards the building.

"Uhh, good day. Thank you very much," Yumi nervously called out. The stranger girl then turned around with a slight smile on her face. It was then that Yumi finally regained her bearings enough to recognize the girl who fixed her scarf, and to see another girl with dark red hair walk past the both of them out of the corner of her eye.

* * *

Author's Note:

So this story was inspired by Count Morningstar's story, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Strawberry Crisis. I liked how he was able to transform a normal anime high school into a duel academy, so I thought I'd do the same with my personal favorite Yu-Gi-Oh anime, Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's. I ended up choosing Maria-sama Ga Miteru because I wanted to have Akiza transferred to an all girl's school, and this was the only slice-of-life anime that I could find that had even some semblance of a plot. This will be my first time writing a romantic story so forgive me for any hiccups along the way. I'm going to be adding my own plotline into the story much in the same way that Count Morningstar did, and that plot will get started in the next chapter. And for those who are wondering about Mr. Shido, he was based off a teacher from Highschool of the Dead. One last thing, to all of those who want to get mad at me for using the names from the English dub of 5D's, I will kindly ask you to get over it. Review and let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2: Garden of Maidens

_Lillian Girl's Duel Academy- Front Gate:_

The maidens, who flock to Maria's garden, pass through the tall gates yet again with innocent, angelic smiles. Their pure hearts and bodies are clad in deep-colored uniforms. So that the pleats of their skirts are not disturbed, and so that their white sailor collars are not set aflutter, It is customary here to walk slowly and with decorum. The Lillian Girl's Duel Academy, a garden of maidens.

Just reading that description in the brochure filled Akiza with so many irritated emotions. The redheaded duelist assumed that her new school was a place of prim and proper ladies with sticks shoved firmly up their collective anuses. Maybe it was all the time she spent in the Arcadia Movement, or maybe it was all the time she spent around Yusei and his eccentric group of friends, but Akiza did not feel like she belonged with these victorian-era tryhards. She had hoped that her suspicions would not be confirmed, but the universe is rarely that kind. Akiza pulled up to the front gate and parked her duel runner by the sidewalk. She removed her helmet and stepped onto the ground. Already she felt out of place. She was dressed in the uniform of the Lillian Duel Academy, which consisted of a black shirt, a black pleated skirt, and a white sailor collar. This outfit contrasted greatly with her bright burgundy hair. It didn't help that everyone else's hair colors seemed to be a faded black or some shade of brown. _In a world of teal ponytails and gratuitous spikes, why is it that this place's hairstyles have to be so dull?_ Akiza thought to herself. The redhead made her way through the gate, trying her damnedest to not draw any attention to herself. This feat was a bit hard to pull off considering her bright hair and beautiful features. Eventually she passed two students standing in front a statue of the Virgin Mary. One was a young girl with brown pigtails and the other was slightly older and with very long black hair. The older girl seemed to be fixing the younger girl's collar. The only way Akiza knew how to respond to that was with a simple "Whatever". She eventually made her way to her new homeroom. After the morning announcements were made, the teacher signaled Akiza to come in.

"This class, is our new student," The dark haired teacher told the classroom, "Why don't you introduce yourself?" Akiza proceeded to write her name on the board behind her. She turned back to the class and obeyed ner new teacher's instructions.

"My name is Akiza Izinski," the redhead said while taking a small bow, "I used to attend New Domino Duel Academy but my parents forced me to come here. I'm a duelist at heart and I even have my duel runner licence. I hope we can all get along." Most of the class nodded in agreement. The rest of the girls were completely stunned. The redheaded Signer didn't know why they were like this, and frankly didn't really care. She quietly walked over to an empty seat in the back of the class. The teacher started a lecture and Akiza shrank in her seat, hoping not to be noticed by anyone. The duelist tried her best to do her schoolwork, but as luck would have it, Lillian followed an entirely different curriculum. This was going to take some adjusting. While the teacher was in the middle of one of her lectures, Akiza took this opportunity to look over the room and try to familiarize herself with her new classmates. During this examination she found the black haired girl from earlier sitting right next to her. She also observed that many other blushing students were making passing glances at her. Akiza could conclude that this girl was a big deal, but why? Was it that she was a strong duelist, or was it just because she was pretty? Akiza made a mental note to ask about her later. Several hours passed and it was finally time for lunch. Akiza finished her lunch rather quickly and spent a good ten minutes just rifling through the cards in her deck. All the time she spent with the Arcadia Movement, and they couldn't have taught her better social heard a door open when she came up to Black Rose Dragon for the fifth time.

"Rosa Gigantea!" One student screamed. The redheaded duelist was startled and threw her deck into the air with a small scream.

 _Son of a bitch,_ she thought as she bent down to pick up her cards.

"I take it you're Akiza Izinski?" a voice asked. Akiza looked up to see a tall student with shoulder length blonde hair. The student stared down a her with a welcoming smile.

"Yes, yes I am," Akiza answered a little nervously.

"My name is Sei Sato," the young woman responded, "I'm here to give you the grand tour of the Lillan campus. So let's get going, new girl." Sei flashed a big grin at Akiza.

"Okay then, just let me grab the rest of my cards,"

"Grab your duel disk while you're at it, and meet me by the door." Akiza obeyed the instructions she was given. The redhead met the blonde at the door and the two began the tour. The two girls made their way around the main building, with Sei pointing out rooms of interest. Things like the faculty room, the nurses office, the gym, and the locker room were all pointed out. The two eventually made their way to the front courtyard, and to the statue of the Virgin Mary. "This is the Maria statue," Sei began, "It is a tradition here for all students to pray at this statue before class each and every day."

"Is this a rule that's enforced by the faculty?" Akiza asked.

"Well no student has never not prayed, or at least has never been caught not praying," the blonde answered. She then winked at her redheaded companion. Akiza had no idea what she was insinuating with that wink, so she just smiled and nodded in agreement. The two then made their way back through the courtyard. It was there that Akiza noticed the other of the two girls from that morning (the pigtailed one). She was sitting on a bench talking to some friends of her's.

"Miss Sachiko is famous for her dislike of sloppy appearances," one girl said.

"Sachiko?" Akiza muttered under her breath. She thought back to that morning and how the black haired girl was fixing pigtails collar. _I guess her name is Sachiko then,_ she thought. Akiza and Sei made there way into the wooded area in the courtyard. An awkward silence fell upon the duo.

"So," Sei uttered, "I have to say that it's pretty amazing meeting such an exceptional duelist."

"You've seen me duel?" Akiza questioned.

"Yeah, at the Fortune Cup," Sei continued, "When I heard that you'd be coming to the school, I volunteered to be the one to show you around."

"You're really impressed with that? It's not like I won." Akiza sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

"Runner-up isn't bad. And you put up one hell of a fight against that Yusei guy."

"Yeah I did, didn't I?" Akiza's mind flashed back to the semi-finals of the Fortune Cup. Back then she wasn't in the best place. She was still fully indoctrinated by the Arcadia Movement (an organization of psychic duelists) and its charismatic leader, Sayer. Her duel with Yusei was especially hard to look back on. She couldn't really forgive herself for constantly rejecting his attempts to help her. Sei must've noticed the somber look on the signer's face and tried to change the subject.

"Well here we are, the last stop on our tour." the blonde announced. Akiza looked up to see a small, two story building not far off from the main building.

"Do not know how I missed that," Akiza said to herself.

"This is the Rose Mansion, where the Yamayuri Council meets," Sei stated.

"The yama… what now?"

"Basically the student council. Lillian has a pretty unique student government."

"How so?"

"Well we don't have a president persay. I suppose it would be more accurate to say that we have three presidents, the roses. Rosa Chinensis, Rosa Foetida, and Rosa Gigantea." Akiza's mind flashed back to before her tour started.

"I heard someone say something about this Rosa Gigantea before you showed up." She pointed out.

"Yeah that's probably because that's me. Rosa Gigantea at your service," Sei took a bow.

"Wait a minute, why would one of the student council presidents waste her time with some random new girl?"

"You were the runner-up in the Fortunate Cup, you're a bigger deal than you think. Isn't that right Shimako?" The two of them turned to see a girl with long brown hair sitting on the Rose Mansion's back stoop. She looked up from her lunch with a blank expression on her face.

"Yes big sister," the girl named Shimako said.

"Big sister?" Akiza wondered. She took a minute to examine both girls, and while Shimako did look younger, the two did not look similar. "That's funny, you two don't look like you're related…" Sei shot Shimako a coy smile.

"You know I could tell you why she called me that, but you have to do something first." the Rosa Gigantea said in a playful tone.

"What do you want me to do?" the redheaded signer responded nervously.

"I want you to show me the skills that got you into the fortune cup, by beating me in a duel!" Akiza's anxiety was melted away by the fire that ignited in her eyes. She'd been itching to duel someone all day.

"Fine then Sei, I accept your challenge!" the black rose duelist announced.

"Awesome. Shimako, my duel disk please." Sei commanded. The brown haired "little sister" brought Sei her disk. It was a standard academy disk that was mostly black with a white trim. Sei strapped it on and activated it. Akiza followed suit.

"Duel!" Both girls said as they drew their hands and their life points were set to 4000.

"The home team has the first move." Sei said, "and from my hand I activate the spell card, Poison of the Old Man. Now thanks to this card I can either gain 1200 points or inflict 800 points of damage to you. I think I'll gain that 1200 points." A small vial of bubbling green liquid appeared in Sei's hand. She drank the contents and tossed the vial. Her life points shot up to 5200. "Ahh… that's the stuff. Next I pay 1000 life points to activate the spell Toon World." A storybook with a small castle town popping out of it's pages materialized on Sei's side of the field as her life points dropped to 4200.

 _So she uses a toon deck,_ though Akiza. She remembered from her duel history class that toon monsters were the prefered cards of Duel Monsters creator, Maximillion Pegasus.

"I then special summon Toon Mermaid from my hand. And joining her will be my Toon Goblin Attack Force in attack mode." The blonde president continued. Two monsters popped out of the Toon World book. One was a group of chubby cartoon goblins wielding clubs. The other was green haired cartoon mermaid wielding a bow and laying inside of a clamshell with google eyes. "I then sacrifice my Toon Mermaid to summon my Toon Summoned Skull." The mermaid then vanished to make way for a ghostly cartoon figure that had a demonic skull for a face and was covered in bones. "I should let you know that unless you have a toon monster yourself, my toons can attack you directly. And with that I end my turn." Akiza began to sweat. If she didn't do something this turn, she'd lose in the next one. She drew her next card and smiled at the result.

"I summon Twilight Rose Knight in attack mode." A small knight wearing black armor with dark red accents appeared on Akiza's field. The knight drew her sword in preparation for a battle. "Now thanks to my knight's ability I can special summon one level 4 or lower plant type monster from my hand, and I choose Lord Poison." A wooden creature with long black spikes protruding from it's body took its place next to Twilight Rose Knight. "Now it's time for me to tune my Twilight Rose Knight with my Lord Poison." Akiza's knight morphed into three tuner rings that Lord Poison made its way through. A blinding flash of light coated the rings. "I synchro summon Black Rose Dragon!" Akiza's rose winged dragon dropped onto the field.

"Your dragon really is a sight to behold Akiza," a starstruck Sei told her opponent.

"It does more than just look pretty," the signer responded, "It also has a special ability. For you see, when my dragon is successfully synchro summoned, it destroys every other card on the field." Akiza's dragon let out a mighty roar, shattering Toon World and Sei's toon monsters. This maneuver left Sei's field and hand completely empty. "Now Black Rose Dragon, show the Rosa Gigantea how a real rose duels. Direct Attack!" Akiza's dragon blasted Sei with a breath of purple rose petals, bringing her life points down to 1800. Akiza made sure not to let her psychic powers make that attack feel real. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

"It's my move, I draw!" The Rosa Gigantea announced, "And now I'll play the card I just drew, Pot of Greed." A smiling green pot appeared on Sei's field. "Now thanks to this I can draw two more cards." Sei drew her cards and smiled when she saw them. "First I think I'll activate the field spell, Toon Kingdom." Another storybook materialized behind Sei, this time with a castle popping out of it. "I then activate the equip spell, Comic hand. And I equip it onto your dragon." A cartoon hand on a spring launched itself out of Toon Kingdom and grabbed Black Rose Dragon by the neck. The glove then dragged Akiza's dragon into the castle. The castle then shook around a bit and Akiza's dragon then popped out, only it looked different. It was smaller and had large cartoon eyes.

"What did you do to my dragon?" Akiza yelled.

"I made it cuter," Sei responded with a coy grin. "And now I think I'll have my Black Rose Toon Dragon attack you directly!" The cartoon dragon then blasted its former master with a stream of rose petals. Akiza's life points dropped down to 1600. "And now I think I'll end my turn." Akiza looked at her hand, and silently swore when she didn't find anything helpful. She turned her attention back to her field. The only card on it was a facedown trap known as Wicked Rebirth, a trap card only helpful if her dragon was in the graveyard. She reached for her deck.

 _What was that old phrase again?_ Akiza thought, _Believe in the heart of the cards?_ The motto of the King of Games, Yugi Muto flashed into her mind. The redheaded signer closed her eyes and resolved to put this old phrase to the test. In one swift motion she opened her eyes and drew the top card of her deck. Slowly she turned the card over, and learned that Yugi might've had a point.

"You know Sei," Akiza began, "Your toon cards are pretty versitile, but they have one fatal weakness. You're Toon Kingdom to be precise. However strong it may be, every kingdom falls eventually. And nature will be there to take back the abandoned castle. I activate the field spell Black Garden!" Sei's Toon Kingdom was shattered as the entire field was covered in spiky green vines. "Now let's see if I got my facts straight. Without Toon Kingdom in play, your comic hand equip spell is destroyed, and my dragon returns to me." Without Sei having to say anything, the toon dragon cocooned itself in a large rose bud. The bud then began to bloom, with Akiza's original dragon emerging from the petals. It flew back to its original master. "And since you're wide open, I'll have my Black Rose Dragon end this duel! Attack my monster!" Another breath of rose petals pelted Sei, whose life points dropped to zero. The dragon and vines faded away as the victorious signer approached her defeated opponent. "So, did you see what you wanted to see?" the black rose asked the blonde president.

"All that and more," Sei answered, "That comeback was amazing. No wonder they call you the Black Rose Witch." Akiza's victorious smile soon melted into a frown. That was another part of her past that she didn't want to remember. Sei could see this and decided to change the subject. "So you wondered why Shimako called me 'big sister' earlier right?" She questioned.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Akiza replied.

"Well Lillan Duel Academy is different from other duel academies in a number of ways," the Rosa Gigantea began, "One of the most prominent differences is that here we have the Soeur System."

"Soeur?"

"It's French for sister. You see an upperclassmen pairs up with an underclassmen. The upperclassmen, or grande soeur, is then tasked with passing on her knowledge of etiquette, dueling, and other skills to the underclassmen, or petite soeur."

"I see. So I guess that this Shimako…"

"Is my petite Sour, yes. Tell me Akiza, you're a second-year right?"

"Yeah, is that important?"

"I'll just warn you now that there might be a lot of first-years who would love to be your soeur."

"But what if I don't want a Soeur?"

"Then you're just gonna have to break a few hearts. But don't break too many, because that's just rude is what that is." Sei laughed. Akiza couldn't help but smile. "Look Akiza, I know Lillian isn't going to be the easiest place to adjust to. If you ever need to talk I'd be happy to listen." The Rosa Gigantea shot the signer a warm smile. Akiza smiled back.

"Thanks Sei, that would be great." Akiza looked down at her watch. "Oh crap, I have to get back to class. See you later Sei, thanks for the duel." She began to run off.

"Akiza wait!" The signer halted. "It's fine if you want to call me Sei when we're alone, but around the other students you should call me Rosa Gigantea, 'kay?" Akiza nodded in agreement and resumed her walk back to class.

* * *

 _New Domino Highway:_

"So that's basically the gist of what's happening with Akiza" the dark haired signer named Yusei said into the screen of his duel runner. It was the early afternoon and Yusei was out testing a new engine design that he was working on for the upcoming WRGP. Since his ride was going well he decided to open up to the rest of his friends about where Akiza was. The screen on his duel runner displayed two people, both were young men. One man had blonde hair and purple eyes, and wore earrings in the shape of the letter "A". The other was a younger man with grey eyes and orange hair tied up by a headband. This man also had a jagged mark similar to Yusei's under his both his eyes and another mark in the shape of an "M" on his forehead. These men were Yusei's friends, roommates, and fellow signers, Jack Atlas and Crow Hogan.

"Why the bloody hell would her parents do that?" Jack said. "If anything those bastards and that teacher are the ones to blame."

"I know Jack," Yusei responded, "But she did technically assaulted a teacher so…"

"A teacher who deserved to be assaulted," Crow chimed in, "How can you of all people be okay with this?"

"The hell is that suppose to mean?" Yusei questioned.

"Come on Yusei," Crow said coyly, "We all know."

"Know what?" Yusei was getting slightly agitated.

"We all know how you and Akiza feel about each other," Jack bluntly stated.

"How many times do I have to tell you guys, Akiza and I are just friends, we always have been just friends, and we will continue to be just friends." Yusei explained.

"Yeah maybe just friends with benefits," Crow joked. Both him and Jack started laughing. Yusei decided that that was it and hung up on both of them. He couldn't really fathom why everybody and their mother thought that he and Akiza were a couple. Sure he cared deeply for her, but in a completely platonic way. It wasn't like he was in love with her… or was he?

 _Damnit Crow, stop shoving these thoughts in my head,_ Yusei thought. He had no time to worry about Akiza, the tournament was coming up. He had too much on his plate to be concerned with anything romantic. Yusei's duel runner continued to blaze through the streets of the city. The signer was pleased with how the new engine was performing, and decided to turn in for the day. It was shortly after he started his ride home that something strange happened. After pulling back onto the highway, an all white duel runner pulled up next to him at maximum speed. The rider was dressed in an all white riding suit. His helmet was also white with a viser too tinted for Yusei to see his face.

"Yusei Fudo, you don't know how long I've been searching for you." the rider said.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Yusei yelled to the rider.

"Who I am is of no importance," he responded, "What is important is what I can offer you."

"The hell are you talking about?"

"I offer a way for people to fix this tainted world we live in. To expel the darkness that has tainted our society, and bring in a new golden age of light.

"Call me crazy, but I still have no idea what you're talking about."

"It matters not. Soon all will be made clear signer Yusei Fudo." Yusei's eyes widened.

"How do you know I'm a signer?"

"We know everything, and soon you will too. Only then will you be able to dance in the light with your brothers and sisters."

"Okay buddy, either you start making sense, or I'm calling sector security!"

"This is a matter bigger than earthly law enforcement. But enough banter, I challenge you to a turbo duel!"

"Now you're speaking my language. Very well I accept!" The two duelists then activated the Speed World 2 field spell and pulled into the duel lane. The two runners soon exited the highway into the city sanctioned turbo dueling track. Yusei figured that he could get the answers he wanted by dueling this stranger. Duels like these usually bring out the truth in people.

"On your mark!" the white stranger said.

"Get set!" Yusei uttered.

"Duel!" They both shouted as they sped off, each with life points set to 4000.

* * *

Author's Note:

So yeah that was chapter 2. One of my biggest projects for this story will be to find decks that fit people. I chose the toon deck for Sei because I thought it fit her playful personality. And now that I think about it, she and Pegasus do seem kind of alike… kind of. I'll try to keep the cards from and prior to the 5D's era, but some Arc-V era synchro monsters might slip through the cracks. Also please (politely) tell me if anyone is acting out of character and I will try to fix it. And with that, may the reviews come forth.


	3. Chapter 3: The White Rider

_Lillian Girl's Duel Academy- Front Gate:_

It was a long day for Lillian Duel Academy's newest student, Akiza Izinski. Not only did she have to adjust to a new school curriculum, but she got chewed out no less than seven times for "unladylike behavior". Half of those times was during duel practice. Apparently her dueling style isn't elegant enough, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean. And on top of it all, fourteen different underclassmen practically begged her to be their grande soeur. All Akiza wanted to do was leave campus and cool down a bit with Yusei and the others. Akiza made her way to the school's front gate and over to her duel runner. In the process of locking her duel disk into her runner, a raven haired beauty decided to give her the time of day. "Good day to you Miss Akiza," she said.

"Oh hi," the redheaded signer responded, "You're name's Sachiko right?"

"How did you know?" Sachiko questioned.

"I've heard some students around campus talking about you. You seem to be a pretty big deal for some reason."

"Well that's probably because I'm the petite soeur of Rosa Chinensis. But enough about me, how was your first day?"

"Not fun, that's for sure…"

"Well I'm sure you'll adjust to life at Lillian eventually." Sachiko smiled. A bus pulled up shortly after. "Well that's my ride. I'll see you in class tomorrow." The black haired girl boarded the bus and rode off into the distance. Akiza was able to find her helmet in time for a pigtailed girl to come running out of the front gate.

"Wait!" she yelled, "You forgot someone! Come back!" The bus she obviously missed drove behind the horizon. The girl sunk down to the ground, defeated. This was the time Akiza's conscience kicked in. Reluctantly she called out to the brown haired student.

"Hey! You need a ride," she stated.

"I guess I don't have a choice do I?" the pigtailed one stated.

"No, you really don't," Akiza said. The redhead was able to fish out a spare helmet and gave it to her new passenger. "My name's Akiza by the way. What's yours?"

"My name is Yumi Fukuzawa, pleased to meet you."

* * *

 _New Domino Highway Duel Track_

"DUEL MODE ENGAGED. AUTOPILOT STANDING BY" the computer on Yusei's duel runner uttered as he zoomed past his opponent. The white suited rider retaliated by cutting him off at the first turn.

"I think I'll make the first move signer Yusei Fudo!" the rider proclaimed. He drew his first card and both duelists gained one speed counter. "First I shall summon Fabled Ashenveil in attack mode!" A muscular humanoid demon with bat wings, a scaly tail, and two black feathered wings protruding from its forearms appeared on the white riders field. It stared Yusei down with its bright red eyes, shining through its blue mask. "I then set one card face down and end my turn. Show me the skills that captivated the crimson dragon Yusei Fudo!"

"Ok then," Yusei replied while reaching for his deck, "Just remember that you asked for it. I draw!" Both duelists gained another speed counter, putting them both at two. "And to start things off I'll summon Fortress Warrior in attack mode!" Appearing on Yusei's field was a massive quadrupedal, four armed stone golem carrying a giant stone disk.

"A good move Yusei Fudo," the white rider interjected, "But you just triggered my trap, Karma Cut! Now all I have to do is discard one card to banish your monster!" Fortress Warrior was then sucked into a swirling vortex, never to be seen again. Yusei gritted his teeth slightly in frustration.

"I'll set one card face down and end my turn." he said.

"I draw!" Both duelists now had three speed counters. "And I activate the effect of the card I discarded last turn. By simply discarding two Fabled monsters in my hand to the graveyard, I can special summon Fabled Soulkius!" The monster the white rider summoned was almost identical to Fabled Ashenveil, except Soulkius had a red mask. "But that's not all, because I discarded Fabled Lurrie and The Fabled Cerburrel, their effects allow me to summon them from the grave." Rising from a dark portal was a small humanoid demon with sharp teeth and bat wings and a small three headed, red furred dog with a small bat like demon pulling on its leash. "Now I tune The Fabled Cerburrel with Fabled Lurrie and Fabled Ashenveil!" The dog morphed into two green rings that wrap around Ashenveil and Lurrie. A blinding beam lit up the twilight. "I synchro summon Fabled Valkyrus!" Emerging from the beam was another humanoid demon with bat wings, only this one was clad in black armor and wore a menacing black mask. "The light of destruction shines greatly in this beast. It is a light that eclipses even the Crimson Dragon's limitless power. This is the end for you Yusei Fudo. It's time you see the light!"

* * *

 _Highway:_

"Do you think you could slow down?" a panicked Yumi asked Akiza.

"A friend of mine once told me that duel runners have only two speeds; fast and stop," she responded. Even if they were slightly exaggerated, Akiza was definitely living up to those words. The dark red frame of her runner was zooming down the highway at what most would call breakneck speeds. Akiza remained calm and collected, but Yumi was absolutely terrified. It was understandable. After all, the redheaded signer could remember the first time she ever rode on a duel runner. That day Yusei was kidnapped and dragged into a turbo duel with a woman named Sherry Leblanc. True she was scared at first, but the rush was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. She experienced her first turbo duel right alongside Yusei, and it was almost euphoric. She finally understood why Yusei lived for those kinds of duels. However, Akiza wasn't sure if her passenger had a strong enough stomach for this. "You feeling okay back there Yumi?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Yumi nervously responded, "I just need to think about something else besides crashing into something and facing my early death." The pigtailed passenger swallowed hard.

"Why don't we change the subject," Akiza suggested, "You said you were a first year at Lillian right?"

"Yeah."

"What made you decide to go there?"

"Well my brother goes to the all boys school on the same hill, it was just more convenient that way."

"I see. So do you like it there?"

"I mean school is school no matter where you go. I kinda wish there wasn't such a big emphasis on dueling though."

"How come?"

"I'm not much of a duelist. I'm also no good on a duel runner. I'm practically the most unremarkable person you'll ever meet. You on the other hand are pretty much the opposite."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw you at the Fortune Cup Miss Izinski. You're an amazing duelist, you can ride a duel runner, and you're also beautiful. Honestly, I don't know why someone on your level is bothering with me."

"Come on don't say that. Believe it or not, I'm not all that amazing. I've done some terrible things in my life, so I'd prefer it if people didn't idolize me. And you shouldn't sell yourself short either. Trust me when I say that hating yourself doesn't lead to anything good." The image of her parents horrified faces flashed into her mind. All the years of manipulation at the hands of Sayer came rushing back. Akiza gripped the handlebars tighter. Yumi could see her tense up and decided to change the subject. She turned to her left and saw the dueling track. On the track were two duel runners, one of them being followed by some armored monster.

"Speaking of dueling, there are some guys down there turbo dueling." Yumi pointed out.

"Oh yeah"

"Have you ever turbo dueled before?"

"Once to get my licence. If you want to see a true master of turbo dueling you should see my friend, Yusei. He's the amazing one in our circle of friends"

* * *

 _Highway Duel Track:_

"Fabled Valkyrus, strike Yusei down!" the white rider commanded. The armored demon charged at Yusei's duel runner. It wound up its fist and drove it at the black haired signer.

"I activate the trap card, Scrap Iron Scarecrow! This blocks your attack and then returns to the facedown position." A makeshift scarecrow made out of pieces of scrap metal blocked the punch from Valkyrus, saving Yusei from taking 2900 points of damage.

"Nice counter, too bad it won't do anything to save you from my Fabled Soulkius. Destroy him!" the white duelist stated. The other demon drove its fist into Yusei's runner reducing his life points to 1800. "You might've been able to delay the inevitable for now, but next turn you will be defeated. I set one card face down and end my turn!"

"Draw!" Yusei announced as he drew a card. The duelists now had four speed counters. "I'll start by activating the speed spell Summon Speeder! Since I have four or more speed counters I can special summon one level four or lower monster from my hand. So come on out Nitro Synchron!" a cylindrical robot with a gauge on its head appeared next to Yusei. "Next I summon Ghost Gardna in attack mode." A white ghost-like robot materialized next to Nitro Synchron. "Now since I summoned a monster this turn I can special summon Turbo Booster from my hand." Yusei then brought out a yellow robot with two massive boosters for arms. Now I tune Nitro Synchron with Turbo Booster and Ghost Gardna!" Yusei's monsters lined up inside the synchro rings and from the light emerged a massive horned warrior with a jet engine for a tail. "I synchro summon, Nitro Warrior! But I'm not done quite yet. You see, since I activated a spell card this turn, Nitro Warrior gains 1000 ATK. Now attack Fabled Valkyrus with Dynamite Crunch!" Nitro Warrior plunged both fists into the armored demon. It shattered and took the white rider's life points down to 3100. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

"A fine comeback, but it was not enough to save you." The white rider drew a card and both duelists gained one speed counter. "Since I have an attack position Fabled monster on my field, I can sacrifice it to summon a level eight monster, more specifically Fabled Dianaria!" Fabled Soulkius was replaced by an even more muscular demon with red skin. "Thanks to Dianaria's effect, the effect of the first normal spell I play is changed to me discarding one card and I play the speed spell Double Summon. Now I simply discard a card, namely The Fabled Catsith. And thanks to its ability I can destroy one face up card on the field. And I choose Nitro Warrior!" A small black cat emerged from the ground and clawed at Yusei's horned warrior until it shattered. "Now Fabled Dianaria, attack Yusei directly!"

"I activate Defense Draw! With this card the damage I take is reduced to 0 and I get to draw one card." Yusei reached for his deck and pulled out the trap card, Cosmic Blast. A plan began to form. The signer could see the cards linking in his head. He could still win this, but he'll have to get lucky.

"Still trying to delay the inevitable I see. It matters not, next turn you will lose this duel."

"You forget I still have Scrap Iron Scarecrow on my field. Even if you do attack next turn I'll still survive." the snow colored rider growled in frustration. He ended his turn. Yusei drew a card and the speed counters shot up to six each. "I play the speed spell Angel Baton. Since I have more than two speed counters I can now draw two cards and discard one." The two cards he drew were the speed spell Overspeed, and another Angel Baton. He decided to toss Overspeed and activate the other Angel baton. This time he drew Backup Warrior, a monster he couldn't summon, and a speed spell called Fallen Synchron. His plan was coming together. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

"My move!" The white rider announced as he drew a card and both duelists obtained another speed counter. Yusei's opponent spent thirty seconds staring at the cards in his hand. He then let out an audible frustrated growl. "I end my turn. But don't think you're safe. Next turn I'll have enough speed counters to finish you off."

"You're still underestimating me aren't you?" Yusei interjected.

"I have no need to underestimate anyone. My skill simply cannot be outmatched. Besides, if I am going to defeat a signer, I want it to be slow and painful. So let's continue your suffering Yusei Fudo!"

"Oh trust me, my suffering is about to end." Yusei drew his next card and his speed counters shot up to eight. "I activate the speed spell Fallen Synchron! With this card I can banish tuner and non tuner monsters in my graveyard in order to synchro summon. So I tune Nitro Synchron with Fortress Warrior and Ghost Gardna." A dark hole appeared in front of Yusei's duel runner. A giant beam of light shot out from it. "Let's rev it up! I synchro summon… Stardust Dragon!" Yusei's ace monster took to the field. It was a giant three-horned white dragon with bluish-silver scales on parts of its body. Stardust Dragon let out a mighty roar that startled Fabled Dianaria. "Next I activate the Cosmic Blast trap card. Now if a dragon-type synchro monster I control leaves the field you take damage equal to its ATK."

"Well that was a pointless maneuver."

"Not really. You see, Fallen Synchron has another effect. Whatever synchro monster I summoned is banished during my end phase."

"But even so, I have 3100 life points and Stardust Dragon has only 2500 ATK."

"It's true you would survive, if I don't activate the effect of Speed World 2. By removing four speed counters and revealing a speed spell in my hand, you get hit with 800 points of damage."

"What, no!" The white rider's life points were reduced to 2300. "Wait stop, you don't know what your doing!"

"My turn... is over." With those words, Stardust Dragon was sucked into a swirling vortex, and an ghostly version of it charged at its master's opponent. With the white rider's life points reduced to 0, Yusei stood victorious.

* * *

 _Fountain Plaza:_

The night sky coated the plaza's fountain in starlight as Akiza sped up to her friend's garage. She had already dropped off her passenger at her house which wasn't too far from Yusei's place. The redhead parked her duel runner and made her way inside the garage. It was there she saw Yusei's blue haired assistant, Bruno working on something in the corner. She then turned to see Crow and Jack playing some fighting game. Peaking around at the TV, Akiza saw Crow's character throwing a continuous stream of fireballs while Jack's character continually jumped to dodge them. "Really?" Jack stated in an annoyed tone, "Is this really how you're going to play this game?"

"There's no rule that says I can't," Crow pointed out. Eventually the last sliver of Jack's character's health faded away. The in game ref pronounced Crow as the winner, much to Jack's annoyance.

"You know Crow, nobody likes a spammer," Akiza said.

"Akiza, when did you get here?" Crow asked.

"Just now. Do you know where Yusei is?"

"Not really. He was out testing something when I was at work and I haven't heard from him since."

"Aren't you guys worried about him?"

"Not really," Jack interjected, "Yusei's a tough guy, he can handle himself. Besides, if something happened he would call us right away." The three signers heard the sound of an approaching duel runner engine. "That's probably him now." Yusei's runner pulled into the garage. He pulled off his helmet and nested on the seat, a troubled expression on his face.

"Yusei!" Crow exclaimed, "Where have you been man? It usually doesn't take you this long to test a new engine design."

"Sorry I'm late guys," The black haired signer said to his congregation of friends, "I got roped into a turbo duel by this crazy dude in a white suit."

"How'd it go?" Crow questioned, "And why do you look so uneasy?

"I won, but this guy really bothered me. He talked like he was a part of some cult and told me that he would 'show me the light'."

"This pillock sounds like a cultist to me," Jack interjected.

"But what really got me was what he said after our duel."

"What did he say?" Akiza asked.

* * *

 _Highway Duel Track…. 20 Minutes Earlier:_

Yusei stopped his duel runner next to his overturned opponent. This white rider owed him some answers and it was time for him to collect. "Alright, I won your duel, now tell me what I want to know," the signer demanded. His downed opponent only responded by chuckling.

"I have to admit, I was not expecting that, signer Yusei Fudo," the white rider stated, "I understand why my brothers and sisters told me not to take you lightly. But this duel has served its purpose. Now the the extent of your power has been observed, it will be that much easier for the signers to join our fold."

"What are you talking about?" Yusei angrily shouted, very annoyed at the lack of straight answers that he was getting," Who are you? Who do you work for? What is this light you keep talking about?"

"If you want answers Yusei Fudo, seek me out in the garden of maidens, where the eyes of the enlightened one can observe you in person." Before Yusei could even get a response out a blinding flash of light penetrated his retinas. When his vision returned, his opponent was gone.

 _Yusei's Garage:_

"Did he flashbang you?" Crow questioned.

"Most likely," Yusei replied, "But I still can't figure out what he meant by 'seek me out at the garden of maidens', or, 'the enlightened one'." A long silence fell upon the group. Each signer mulling over the story Yusei told them. Akiza was perhaps closest to an answer. She knew that she heard the phrase "garden of maidens" somewhere before, but she couldn't put her finger on where. Wait a minute…

"Lillian!" The redheaded signer blurted out.

"Lilly what?" Crow asked.

"My new school, Lillian," Akiza continued, "Here, take a look at this." She produced a pamphlet from her pocket and handed it to Yusei. He began to read the text inside.

"Maidens who flock to Maria's garden… deep colored uniforms… walk slowly and with decorum… Lillian Girl's Duel Academy… a garden of maidens!" Yusei read.

"Yusei, what does this mean?" A worried Akiza questioned.

"I don't know," Yusei replied, "But we're going to find out."

* * *

Author's Note:

Hope you all enjoyed chapter three. It's been a long time coming I know, but that's how college schedules are. I had to resort to using some anime exclusive cards for the duel here, something that I'm not really a fan of doing. I'll try to avoid this in the future, but I may have to resort to it if I end up writing myself into a corner. Now let the reviews flow forth.


End file.
